Brian Irwin || Windermere Real Estate Co. ||

If you are looking for a green product for your countertops, you may look to a product called Paperstone.   It is composed primarily of……..paper!  I know it is hard to deduct that given the name.   Paperstone is made from post consumer recycled paper, water, and phenolic resins.   Phenolic resins are treated at high temperatures to create a very durable polymer that has the durability of those high school chem lab countertops.  Due to the high heat used in production, the countertops will not emit volatile organic compounds in the form of gas.  Only hitch is that it’s not a 100% green product.  While it does predominantly use recycled water and paper, the phenolic resins are ultimately derived from oil products.  ****Oil yields the chemical benzene, benzene is oxidated to form phenols, then phenols are exposed to formaldehyde to provide the chain reaction that turns it into a hardened polymer  (phenolic resin) that can bond the paper/water combo together.**  It may not be perfect, but it yields a durable surface using predominantly recycled waste.  Price per square foot ranges from $16 per square foot for 3/8″ thick slabs, to $41 for  1 1/4″ thick slabs.

It’s funny to think people are just discovering Marmoleum (natural linoleum) as it has been in production for over 150 years!   Marmoleum is composed of linseed oil, pine rosins, wood flour, and pigments with a fabric backing.  Demand has increased over the past years because of the simple ingredients and the environmental benefits of the product.   Namely the fact that there are no formaldehyde-like glues that release VOC’s (volatile organic compounds).   The process to manufacture is fairly simple —- oils/resins are mixed together, heated, and rolled onto the fabric backing.   This simple nature is what I find appealing — organic compounds, concise manufacturing process, durable product.    The oxidation of the linseed oil also inhibits growth of microorganisms, giving it bactericidal qualities.  Not bad!

If you are looking to purchase the product in Seattle, you may look to a distributor called Ecohaus in the SODO district downtown.   Hope you have a good day and let me know if you have any stories regarding the product.

The latest Case Shiller data has been released, and it is positive news for Seattle.  Home prices are up .5% in May and 1.2% since January of 2010.  Does this mean that we are on an upward trend?  The data seems to suggest this.  If you look at the data from the last decade of Case Shiller analysis for Seattle, you can see a trend supporting slow, steady progress.  Here’s a graph covering January 2000 through May of 2010:

I was reading the Seattle Times, and found a few activities you might like to pursue this weekend:

**Seafair Activities My interest being the milk carton race at Green Lake Saturday!

**Fire Festival  in Pioneer Square A bunch of historic fire engines on display, could be fun for the kiddos.

**Ballard Seafood Festival Fish and Vikings, need I say more?

**Georgetown Art Attack Great art displays and tours of historic Gardens in Georgetown.  Great way to explore an up and coming neighborhood.

**Shakespeare in the Park If you like theater, the weather is perfect for the outdoor variety!

Enough from me.  Hope you have a great weekend and get to enjoy the weather.

In Seattle, many of our homes are quite old, and it’s fun to see what they looked like when originally built!

  You can find many archived photos of your home at the Office of the Secretary of State — Division of Archives and Records Management.  

The archives are located at Bellevue College in the Pritchard-Fleming Building. 

The Address:

3000 Landerhold Circle SE, MS-N100

Bellevue, WA 98007

Keep in mind that rates are headed to historical lows.   First time home buyers:   low interest rates can help you with the resale of your home!  Home buyers that use an FHA insured loan for their purchase may sell their mortgage along with the property.  This is a process called assumption.   After approval by FHA on sale of the property, the new buyer will assume all obligations under the mortgage, and the seller will be relieved of all liability to the property.  The assumption becomes a great marketing tactic for you during resale — you can offer potential buyers a lower interest rate that they could not obtain anywhere else!   The new buyer also avoids the settlement costs on a new mortgage.  Win/Win situation as far as I am concerned!  : )

If you would like a detailed scenario, here’s an article from the Washington Post Website.

One thing you might want to consider is making your own household cleaners!  I have to admit I initially balked at the idea — but I am now a believer.  Take this mold I found in my spare Jeep.  Initially I thought of purchasing a caustic chemical, but after research I discovered that borax (the granular soap that used to be in your school bathrooms) is a great mold killer.   So I heated up some water, dissolved the borax in the solution, sprayed it on the fabric, and wiped up the mold.  Due to it being mildly abrasive, it was great at removing the mold from fabric.   I did not have to wear any protection, and the borax even has deodorizing properties!   By letting some of this solution dry on the fabric,  a mold inhibitor was created for possible future growth.   Who knew? Apparently this guy.

Bottom line — I like the idea of cost effective cleaners where you are familiar with the ingredients, and their potential impact on your body and home.  The math clearly supports this option:

Lysol Mold Remover = $6.59 for 32 Ounces of Cleaner  (a gallon = 128 ounces)

Reusable 1 QT Spray Bottle $2.50 +  72 ounces of Borax $3.99 + Free Water =  $6.49 for up to 9 gallons of cleaner!!

Here’s  a link to some home recipes from the Bastyr Center in Seattle –  and another Naturopath website.

Sheeps Wool

Have you ever thought about using sheep’s wool for your home insulation?   Here’s a few pros/cons:

–Sheeps wool will retain it’s insulating properties when wet!  Traditional fiberglass insulation loses it’s capacity to insulate when exposed to moisture.  Obviously we don’t want to have leaks in our attics or through the siding, but this is a nice benefit for a wet climate.

–Sheeps wool is a non-irritating substance.  It can be installed without using protective clothing or gloves — which can be a big plus when navigating already cramped attics.

–Given that it is a raw material, there is very little energy consumed in the production process.

–The wool does not settle over time, so there is no decrease in performance as the material ages.

–Most wool is treated with borate to prevent pest intrusion, mold,  and increase the fire resistance.   Repeated wetting and drying can leach out the borate treatment, decreasing pest/fire resistance.

–It is more sound absorbent than fiberglass insulation due to it’s density.

Mineral Wool

This is another great product that features many of the same benefits as sheeps wool, but uses a waste material called Slag.  As per wikipedia : slag is a byproduct of the metal refining process that is largely limestone or dolomite which has absorbed phosphate from the molten iron.  Most of my study here is on a substance called Roxul, which is produced in Canada and not yet for use in the United States.   Apparently it is pretty common there, and can be found at Home Depot (canadian).  Some of the pros/cons:

–Mineral Wool is made from a waste material, which diverts materials from the landfills

–Since it is made of rock, it is very fire retardant.  This product does not burn unless subjected to temperatures over 2150 degrees fahrenheit.

–Like sheep’s wool, it does not lose it’s insulating properties when wet.  Additionally you do not have to worry about repeated moisture leaching out the pest/fire retardant properties (as in wool).

–It has a higher density than fiberglass, allowing for better soundproofing of your home.

–A potential downside is that it does irritate your skin like fiberglass insulation, so protection must be used during install.

Bottom line:  Both are good products and have an increased cost over traditional fiberglass insulation.  I find myself attracted to the advent of  sheep’s wool due to the non-irritating properties.  Particularly for the exposed attic areas!  Remember these types of upgrades can help in the future marketing of your home.   I hope you found this helpful, and that you have a good start to your week.

Brian

I thought I would share an incredibly obvious way to save on your water bill — buy a front loading washer!  Did you know that you can reduce your water consumption by up to 75%   That’s a pretty big deal. You can also put larger loads of laundry in a front loading machine, making it even more efficient!    Front loading machines spin at higher rpm rates, meaning that the final spin will extract even more water out of the clothing — making less work for your dryer.   If that was not enough, front loading washers are known to cause less wear and tear on your clothing.

—water savings:   typical top load machine consumes 40 gallons   vs.  10-20 for a front loader

Rebates are Available to Seattle homeowners to make a purchase more affordable!

The State of Washington has just begun the Cash for Appliances program which offers $100 for washers with  (Modified Energy Factor (MEF) 2.46 or greater and Water Factor (WF) 4 or less).  Here’s a list of qualifying washers.

On top of that, Seattle City Light and Puget Sound Energy have the Washwise program that can provide you another $100 rebate!

Bottom line — This is a 600-700 investment with up to $200 in rebate savings.  As far as yearly utility savings, it could be as high as $135.  Really can’t lose here, and it is a big plus when you sell your house.  People like seeing these shiny new appliances, and it will help with future resale value!

I stumbled across two  tools to help you analyze your home’s energy consumption!  One is Microsoft’s Hohm project, and the other being Google’s Powermeter project.   Tonight I started with the Hohm project.  Colorful homepage, simple looking interface, and all you need is a Windows Live  ID or a Hotmail address.  All free info, which I appreciate.   At first I was thinking that Microsoft is getting the user interface design down.  Wrong!   : )   Actually it’s not that bad, but I was a bit perplexed when you drill down into the “advanced home profile”.   The basic profile makes a lot assumptions for you, but the advanced side………..well it get’s advanced in true microsoft fashion.  Almost obtuse for the general homeowner.  Perhaps just good to avoid.   Back to the basics — one nice thing Microsoft’s Hohm project has accomplished is to connect with partner utilties like Seattle City Light.   An upcoming connection to Puget Sound Energy should be arriving soon (which means for now you are left to manually input data).    I did not see anything in the related article regarding timelines for the PSE connection.   Bottom line —-  after fiddling with the site for awhile it aggregated my city light data, compiled the manually input pse data, offered some basic graphs on energy consumption, compared against larger demographic stats, and offered suggestions on energy savings.  Not really the most mind blowing, but if you haven’t really looked at your energy consumption it is a good place to start.  One thing I appreciated about the recommendation section was that they showed you the DIY costs vs Contracted Costs and the projected energy savings for the year.  Helpful data indeed.

Personally I am hoping the Google Powermeter project hooks up with Seattle Utilities in the near future.  At the moment there is no partnerships with local utilities in the works.  You would have to use a device such as the TED 5000 to record and analyze data.   It is a powerful device, but if you are looking for simple analysis, a $200 device might not be in the cards.

So perhaps Hohm is the place to start, then if you like what you see powermeter could be the next step.   That’s it for me.  Let me know if you try either out, and how you liked it!